Chapter 79: Auction for Fundraising

After inspecting the two newly built villages in his territory and seeing that everything was on track with all the subjects having settled down permanently, Donald sent people to invite officials from the Giant Stone City’s noble council to count the number of subjects.

This time, as the task was quite important, three officials in charge of the noble council, led by Sir Jesse, came personally to oversee it. Besides Sir Jesse, with whom he already had a good relationship, the other two officials also worked diligently. Of course, they wanted to get to know this new noble from the Northern County ahead of others and plan for their own future.

It should be noted that the establishment of a new kingdom, following newly promoted nobles, and nobles like Donald who had been granted new territories were the three best ways for lower-ranking nobles and commoners to gain greater power and status—much easier than fighting to the death on the battlefield. With hard work and the promise of their lord’s favor, they might even be appointed as vassals and rewarded with manors or small territories.

“Donald, you truly are a man who can create miracles!”

“I had long expected you to achieve such success, but I thought it would take a few years. I never expected that in less than a year, you would already be the lord of a territory spanning hundreds of kilometers and have established villages of this scale!”

Hearing his friend’s praise and admiration, Donald smiled and said, “My friend, these are just steps for me; they’re not the end result yet. More miracles will happen in the future. My territory is still new, and I need help. I know what you desire. If you’re willing to assist me, I can at least offer you a position as treasurer or scribe. The rest will depend on your own efforts!”

Upon hearing this, Sir Jesse realized that Donald was intentionally helping him and said gratefully, “It’s my greatest honor to have the chance to witness miracles with you, Donald. Don’t worry—I’ll join you as soon as I finish handing over my duties at the council!”

Donald took good care of friends like Sir Jesse. After all, it was better to keep benefits within one’s own circle. Sir Jesse was his first friend since arriving in this world, and his character was worth cultivating—far different from opportunistic people like Baron Red Maple.

Moreover, Jesse came from a noble family in the royal capital, had received systematic noble education, was well-informed, and possessed exceptional social skills. Such a rare talent, given the right opportunity, would surely rise to heights beyond even his own expectations. Therefore, Donald certainly couldn’t let him go.

What Jesse desired was nothing more than hereditary noble status, to shed the shadow of being an illegitimate child, to establish a new noble family that would bring satisfaction to his mother, and to earn better regard from his father and siblings in the family. As for this, Donald could still make it happen once the territory developed.

In Donald’s mind, Jesse’s role wasn’t one like treasurer or scribe, but rather as a diplomat—someone needed to handle foreign affairs when the territory grew and required interactions with other lords or even foreign powers. As a lord who was also a mage, he couldn’t handle everything personally. Someone as graceful and skillful as Jesse was the perfect candidate for this role.

While Sir Jesse was counting the people, Donald didn’t slack off either. Instead, he went to the treasury of the lord’s manor with his butler and William, the administrative officer.

The newly built treasury was located underground in the lord’s manor, with several separate rooms designated for storing funds. It was in a secluded area, guarded by guards, and no one was allowed to approach within a hundred paces of the treasury without orders from Lord Donald or jointly signed by the butler and William.

“Young master! All the wealth of the territory is here now. Let William give you an account of the financial situation these past days!”

Donald nodded and looked at William. The new administrative officer immediately said, “My lord, two thousand gold sols were spent on building two new villages. The remaining three hundred have been deposited in the treasury. One thousand five hundred gold sols were spent on purchasing grain, and eight hundred gold sols were spent on supplies for over nine hundred villagers. Currently, the treasury holds 1,305 gold sols and 581 silver moons!”

After hearing this, Donald frowned and asked, “Is that all that’s left?”

“Yes, my lord. Not including the artworks, antiques, and gold and silver utensils in the manor, the territory currently has less than 1,500 gold sols in cash!”

Donald also thought the situation was the same. Although the estate’s produce could bring him at least a thousand gold sols per month, the costs of casting spells accounted for the bulk of that income. Over the past half year, much of his earnings had been spent on purchasing elemental crystals and magic cores. With the construction of his domain already underway, the reserves in his treasury were dwindling rapidly. Meanwhile, while in the capital, he had spent tens of thousands of gold sols on an ancient arcane coin, leaving his domain’s funds rather strained.

Maintaining the domain’s operations would require a significant amount of capital, so Donald planned to prepare in advance to avoid a shortage that could hinder development.

Therefore, Donald instructed William, “Send someone to contact Bert, the manager of the Gold Sol Auction House, and tell him I want to meet with him to discuss some matters!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Donald’s plan was to put several rare items up for auction to generate enough funds for reserves. This approach had two advantages: first, it would allow him to obtain emergency funds quickly; second, it would help promote his domain’s reputation by letting others know that Dalaran not only produced moonlight wine and black tea but also that its lord was an alchemist capable of creating potions and equipment.

Of course, aside from moonlight wine and black tea, Donald would not let any highly powerful or special equipment mentioned in the Books of Truth leave his hands. Thus, he prepared consumables for the auction, such as life potions, purification potions, and beast scrolls.

The only permanent equipment he planned to auction were two relatively unremarkable low-level magical items: ogre gloves and boots of agility. Although these were considered low-level magical items in the Books of Truth, they were still considered mid-to-high-level enchanted equipment in this world. With his teacher, the master alchemist, behind him, Donald wouldn’t arouse suspicion by displaying them. After all, he had indeed learned a lot of alchemy from Master Messel and had access to numerous related books, enabling him to create simple alchemical tools and prepare basic potions independently. If not for the orc invasion and the delays in domain construction, he might have sought his teacher’s guidance a few more times and could have already earned the title of a junior alchemist.

Half a day later, Bert, the round-faced and amiable manager of the Gold Sol Auction House, was invited to travel by carriage to the Dalaran domain of the Merlin family.

The carriage stopped in front of the gates of Dusk Town. Butler Bert struggled to get off the carriage and, upon looking up, was stunned. Just a few months ago, this place was completely uninhabited. A month earlier, Dalaran was nothing but wilderness, a place no one wanted to go to, aside from one manor. Now, a town and villages had silently emerged in what used to be barren land. Moreover, the people wore smiles of peace and prosperity, with no sign of it being the cursed, monster-infested land it once was. Seeing such dramatic changes in such a short time left this butler utterly amazed. Since Dalaran was still somewhat isolated from the outside world, people only knew that the genius mage of the Merlin family, the newly appointed baron, was busy developing the territory. They never imagined that a fully developed territory had already been created unnoticed by outsiders.

“Lord Baron, everything here truly surprises me!” the butler exclaimed as soon as they met.

Donald looked at his territory with pride and said, “This is all the result of my people’s hard work. As the lord, I can only use magic to help them save some effort!”

After marveling at this, Bert didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just the magic of a mage at work. What he didn’t know was that while ordinary mages could use spells like turning stones into mud or levitation to assist in construction, they could only play a supporting role, speeding up the process slightly. Actual construction still required the hard work of workers. But with Donald, as long as the price was paid, the construction of the territory could be completed in an instant. In a sense, with the power of the Holy Book, a high-tier artifact, what Donald was doing was something even true gods could accomplish.

In the reception room of the lord’s manor, Donald took out the items he had prepared for auction for Bert to see. Seeing the alchemical and magical items, many of which were rare or even unheard of in the market, Bert’s round eyes widened in astonishment. After touching the items on the table, Butler Bert said with a sigh, “Lord Baron, you’ve truly given me another great surprise!”

“Butler Bert, do you think it’s appropriate to hold an auction for these items?”

Bert said with a wide smile, “It’s perfect! What the Baron has provided can easily serve as the star item in the auction. If we add some artworks and other items as extras, we’re sure to make a fortune!”
“I’m relieved then! I wonder how the auction fees are calculated?”
“Generally, auction houses take 10% as commission, but I can arrange to give you, the Baron, a 50% discount. After all, holding such a high-end auction is also good for our auction house’s reputation!”
Donald nodded.
“Then it’s settled. When do you think would be a good time to hold the auction?”
Bert countered, “What do you think, Baron?”
“Of course, the sooner the better. To be honest, I’ve already spent a lot of my savings on developing my territory, and I’m a bit short of funds these days. That’s why I’m offering these items in exchange for some Gold Sol to ease the shortage.”
Seeing Donald’s sincerity, Bert thought for a moment before saying, “Then let’s set it for the end of this month, five days from now! After all, our auction house may need time to promote and prepare. Do you have any objections, Baron?”
“Of course not. It couldn’t be better!”
After discussing everything with Manager Bert, the two immediately signed a commission agreement.
Then Donald extended his hand and said, “I hope we have a pleasant cooperation!”
Bert also smiled and shook Donald’s hand.
“Pleasant cooperation! Baron, rest assured. I’ll go back right away to start preparing the promotion. I’ll make sure everything is done perfectly!”